A/N: So in the time since you all last saw me, I booked my holiday at Christmas, my brother came back from his year in Australia, my cousin got married, I went away to visit friends, I got a tattoo, and perhaps most importantly, I finished this story (though the tattoo is pretty cool – ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs for the win). There are two more chapters including this one, which will give us a comfy total of twenty six, so I won't delay you guys any further. Have fun!
Chapter 25: Take My Hand
The furious shouting of his friends woke Yugi from his uncomfortable doze. Instinctively he groped for the Puzzle, and his heart fluttered as he felt the familiar contours of the gold in his hand. Reaching out into his mind, he felt Yami, still out cold, as he had been when Harry had handed it over to him in the ambulance, but beginning to stir again. A wave of relief and love swam across their bond lazily, and Yugi embraced it as he dragged himself back into the world of the waking. There was plenty of time for talking – Yami was back now, and he wasn't going anywhere.
Blinking his eyes open, the piercing lights burst into the back of his skull, and he removed one hand from the Puzzle to rub the spots away. The heavy pressure of a head on his lap kept him glued to his seat, and he stroked Tea's hair as he tried to locate the source of the conflict.
The hospital corridor was bland, and the chairs seemed to have been designed with nothing but discomfort in mind. Only he and Tea remained. At some point after nodding off, Harry, Ron and Draco had left A&E and come to find them in the ward, and they now stood firmly in the corridor doorway with Hermione, their stances hardened and battle-ready like soldiers.
The sight simultaneously relieved and depressed Yugi. They were fine...but they were not children any longer. None of them really had been for a long time. This fight had changed them all.
"This is common assault!" Hermione was shrieking.
"Miss Granger, please control yourself," an unfamiliar voice was replying. Straightening his spine up from its pretzel shape, Yugi saw the familiar dark blue robes of the aurors, and a flash of lime green just behind them. So the Ministry had found them. He had known it was only a matter of time. Kaiba's connections with University College Hospital might have kept them hidden from the muggle public, but the Ministry had already proven that the words and money of Seto Kaiba meant little to them.
"This was a confirmed Death Eater attack," the man at the front was saying. The tension in his robes was incredible, and Yugi swore he could almost see him swelling in size. "On our own soil. Added to which, a large number of the victims are not British citizens, which makes this an international incident. We are under strict orders-"
"To disturb their rest?" Ron interrupted. "Because that's what you're doing. How is it going to help any of them heal if you wipe the muggle's memories?" he adopted a falsely surprised voice. "'Oh I'm in hospital and I can't remember how I got here.' Yeah, that's really relaxing!"
"They will relax better with no memory of the incident!" the auror objected.
"They all know about the wizarding world!" Hermione stamped her foot. "According to the Statue of Secrecy-"
"Do not lecture us on the Statue of Secrecy, Miss Granger!" the leading auror snapped, and Yugi distinctly heard the ripping of several stitches in the man's robes. "The statue allows for muggles to remain aware only in certain circumstances – marriage or immediate family. Friendship is not covered! We will wipe their memories and then get back to our jobs – cleaning up the mess that your little adventure has left behind!"
Yugi had always wondered if it was possible for someone to literally explode from anger, and he was starting to suspect that the opportunity to learn this first hand was not far away. In fact he suspected that the only reason the platoon of aurors had not attacked yet was because of the unwritten rule of the Wizarding World – 'thou shalt not jinx Harry Potter'.
"What's going on here?" Yugi snapped his head around at the thunderous growl, as Seto Kaiba breezed past him without a word of acknowledgement and strode towards the aurors. Trailing behind him was Professor Dumbledore, his pace less menacing, but his face firm and no nonsense. Yugi vaguely wondered what he was doing there, and why he was not at home sleeping.
"Seto's gonna kill them," Yugi turned again, his neck protesting after so long curled up awkwardly against the wall, and saw Mokuba slip into the seat next to him, a sing-song tone on his lips and his grey eyes fixed eagerly on the unfolding battle. Kisara stood next to him, looking rather overdressed for a visit to the hospital in her formal silk dress, her arms folded and a scowl on her face at the sight of the aurors.
/Is it bad that I feel a million times better knowing that if the aurors want to get to our friends they're going to have to go through the Blue Eyes White Dragon herself?/ Yugi thought, soaking up the feeling of protection that seemed to radiate off the girl.
/Don't tell Kaiba/ Yami's groggy voice advised, gravely. /We'll never hear the end of it/
He chuckled to himself, and felt Tea's head turn in his lap towards the commotion.
/How are you feeling, Pharaoh?/
/Exhausted. Whole again. Content/ came the vague drawl, and Yugi shook his head fondly.
/I missed you too/ he assured him. There was no need to tell him how broken he had been – how deeply he had felt his companion's absence. The pain, sorrow and suffering had rippled back and forth across the link since he had touched the Puzzle again, and even in sleep, both of them had instinctively soothed it.
/Is Voldemort dead?/ Yami asked, and Yugi replayed the words in his head several times before realising that that was anxiety he could hear in the Pharaoh's tone. He nodded.
/Yeah. I even asked Dark Magician to check. He won't be getting out of his Penalty Game ever. The Monsters will see to that – they're furious. And even if he does, his body is under hundreds of feet of rubble./
/And Marik?/
/Dead/ Yugi answered, wondering how he could sound so unaffected by those words. /Well and truly. He lost the duel, and Bakura stabbed him for good measure.../ he trailed off. Now he could no longer feel unaffected.
/What happened?/ Yami asked. He knew something had happened, but now the sorrow and pity was starting to build in Yugi's throat and he did not know if he could articulate a response, even mentally. Instead he pushed the feelings at his darker half and vaguely wondered where Ryou was now.
/Oh Bakura.../ Yami sounded devastated on behalf of the other spirit.
"This is a hospital!" Kaiba's snarling broke Yugi out of his catch up with his darker half. "I would have thought that even so called wizards would have more respect for a place of medicine! I am going to say this just once more," he seemed to loom over the wizards, and even the leader seemed slightly cowed. "Leave now, before I call the authorities."
"We are the authorities, Mister Kaiba," a new voice interjected, and the team of aurors parted like the sea as Rufus Scrimgeor limped into view, his own wand at the ready. "Something that you still seem incapable of grasping."
"Minister, I am sure Mister Kaiba has a sound grasp of all the facts," Professor Dumbledore finally stepped in, facing down Scrimgeour like a master disciplining an insolent student. "As, I am sure, do you. To erase memories now would be to the detriment of the subject's health. I suggest you leave for the night, and come back in the morning when everybody has had a chance to sleep and see things in the light of day."
Scrimgeour bristled like a furious cat. "This is not Hogwarts, Dumbledore. This is a Ministry matter in the heart of London."
"Oh and a fine job you did of protecting London, letting Death Eaters camp out beneath the Ministry itself!" Ron scoffed.
"Do not test me, boy!" Scrimgeour barked, but a flash of red began to run up his neck.
"Alright, you know what, you're absolutely right," Harry interjected, to the shock of everybody in the room. He folded his arms and fixed the Minister with a glare that could only be interpreted as a challenge. "Let's wipe their memories. Obviously you can't wipe Yugi, Ryou our Malik – they're wizards themselves and have every right to their knowledge. Same for Kaiba-"
The CEO opened his mouth to interject, but Kisara was there immediately, kicking him sharply in the back of the ankle.
"And there's definitely something magical about Joey – I mean he's got a Legendary Dragon. Then Ali is a witch, so she's safe. So let's see. Let's start with Tea-"
Yugi's arms tightened around Tea's shoulders.
"She's known about the wizarding world for a year, and actually she's known about Yugi's magic for way longer," Harry was ticking off. "So that's...what, three maybe four years of her life you're going to have to wipe?"
The red in Scrimgeour's neck was taking on a more crimson tone, and Yugi understood what Harry was doing – it was risky, and daring, but if there was one thing that it seemed Scrimgeour could not stand, it was being made to look a fool. It still did not stop him from squeezing Tea just a little bit tighter though.
"And then Mai's about two years," Hermione interjected, seeing where Harry was going with this. "Including a particularly life changing experience in the Shadow Realm, and her falling in love with Joey. That'll all have to be wiped if she wants to forget about magic entirely. Same for Serenity. She'll have to forget everything – including her eye surgery I expect. I guess you'll have to make her blind again too in order for the story to fit."
Now the aurors looked very uncomfortable.
"And then Tristan, Becky and Duke will have to forget becoming friends with any of them," Ron put in. "That's got to be about another three years or so. Wonder what they'll think when they wake up and find out that they're not fifteen anymore and in hospital in a foreign country?"
"And then there's people like Koji," Harry added, with a grim shake of his head. "He knows now too. He'll have to forget his entire summer holidays. That'll confuse him when his fans come up to him to congratulate him on a good tournament and he doesn't have a clue what they're talking about – but then again, I guess you could wipe the memories of all the people who came to watch the World Championships too – I mean you'll have already wiped about ten people – what's another twenty thousand?"
"I can see the muggle headlines now," Draco mused thoughtfully. "Mass amnesia sweeps through London – the summer that never was."
"This is childish!" Scrimgeour exploded, but even he could see that the situation was well out of his hands. "Dumbledore-"
"Minister," Dumbledore responded, with a definite threat in his firm voice. "I think it's time you left."
"Yooou...shall not...PASS!" Mokuba intoned under his breath. Kisara looked confused, but to everyone's astonishment, badly repressed snorts of laughter were working their way out from behind Kaiba's hand.
Scrimgeour's eyes darted at all of them from beneath his bushy mane of hair, the veins in his neck throbbing with fury. Just as Yugi thought for certain that he was going to give the order to have them all stunned, he turned on his heel and strode from the corridor, the aurors filing neatly into line behind him. Dumbledore strode after them, his hands folded neatly behind his back, and a placid expression back on his face.
As soon as the doors closed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good riddance," Kaiba growled. Mokuba snorted again and leaned against Kisara's shoulder.
"They'll be back," Draco warned, darkly.
"Yeah, and we'll be ready again," Ron was glaring at the door as though hoping he could incinerate the aurors from two corridors away.
"I'll follow them," Harry promised, yanking the invisibility cloak out and vanishing into thin air. "Make sure they leave."
The door swung open by itself and Harry was gone.
"I'm going to have a word with security about letting those freaks into the wing," Kaiba muttered, setting his features into what Yugi thought of as his 'Battle Face'. Shrugging, Mokuba got up and hurried after him, with Kisara bringing up the rear. She slipped a hand into Kaiba's as they left, and Yugi saw something that looked vaguely like contentment wash over his rival's face.
/No denying now/ Yami sounded endlessly amused as the doors swung shut, and Yugi suppressed a grin.
/Stop it. I can't giggle – this is a hospital!/
"Thanks guys," Yugi managed a weak smile instead, which thankfully came off more exhausted than entertained. "Are you all okay?"
"Never better," Hermione assured him, sitting down in the uncomfortable hospital chair that Mokuba had just vacated, her tone still curt with anger at the aurors. To Yugi's surprise and pleasure, Ron sat next to her and leaned against her shoulder, and the fight immediately drained out of her. In the back of his mind he felt Yami chuckling and muttering something about there being something in the air, and Yugi felt his cheeks flame as he felt Tea shift slightly in his lap.
"I'm trying out these muggle stitches," Ron explained, rolling back his sleeve to reveal fresh dressing. "Dad'll be pleased when I tell him about this place. Did you know that they keep blood in bags here and give it to the patients instead of blood replenishing spells?" he shook his head. "Its brilliant! Apparently muggles just give it to the hospital to help save anyone who's sick. Now that's generosity."
"If you're that keen," Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'll take you to a blood drive at Christmas and you can do it."
"Wicked!" Ron grinned.
"Where's Ryou?" Yugi asked. "Did Malik come out of surgery?"
"Yeah, about five minutes before the aurors showed up," Ron pointed two doors down from them. "Doctors say he'll be okay – they've..." he trailed off looking green. "Well they've tried to-"
Hermione squeezed his hand and took over.
"They've salvaged what they can of his skin and stopped the last of the bleeding. They've started the antibiotics, and they're getting blood and liquids back into him," she swallowed thickly. "He's got quite a few stitches too. They were talking about skin grafts, but they can't do anything about that until the infection is gone."
Yugi felt Tea shudder in his lap. She had not seen Malik at all since he had vanished, and an explanation of his injuries had been horrific enough. Yugi closed his eyes. He was relieved that Malik was okay, but he just could not reconcile the idea of being medically stable with all of the blood and oozing that he had seen coming from his friend's back on the floor in the British Museum.
Still, it was a relief to know that every one of their friends had now been declared stable. All of the worries and fears that had chased themselves around his head since they had arrived at the University College Hospital three hours ago were now easing.
"Can we go in and see him?" Tea asked hopefully. Hermione shook her head.
"One visitor at a time in this wing," she explained.
"Joey and Serenity are both in with Mai though, aren't they?" Draco asked, frowning.
Tea snorted. "Since when does Joey take orders?"
Her stomach chose that moment to growl, and she blushed furiously.
"Sorry."
"Actually that's a great idea," Yugi put in. He was trying to make her feel better, but as soon as he said it, he realised that she actually had a point. "Summoning monsters and Shadow Games are draining."
"Well I could stand to get out of the hospital," Hermione admitted, getting up and stretching. "We'll get you some food. I think there were some places open till three down the road."
Yugi absently handed some money over and watched the three of them vanish through the doors, leaving him and Tea alone in the corridor. His eyes scanned down the row of doors, mentally cataloguing his friends and their state of health, even though he knew them all to be stable now.
"We're all okay," Tea squeezed his hand, still comfortably curled in her chair with her head in his lap. "You know we're okay, Yugi."
"Yeah," Yugi sighed. "But it was close. Far too close. In all the fights we've ever had, we've never been hurt this bad..."
"I know," Tea nodded, not letting go of his fingers. "But we've survived. And hopefully this will be the last of the dramas in the wizarding world."
Yugi allowed a smile to play over his lips. "Yeah, and now you've jinxed it."
She giggled into his knee. "I'd like to see the universe try. We're owed a break. A long break."
And Yugi could not help but think that maybe she was right – after all, the universe should know better than to challenge Tea when she used that tone of voice.
She shuffled her shoulders a bit closer to him and tucked his hand under her chin. Somehow it felt more intimate than the closest of hugs.
"Told you you'd save us," she muttered. "Told you you were the hero."
Trying his best not to blush, Yugi gave a sheepish grin, and a traitorous thought swam through his mind.
"Doesn't the hero usually get the girl?"
Sudden heat surged up through his neck, and he glanced down at her head in his lap.
Should he...? He really really wanted to. But the strains of his confidence were fighting hard against his inherent bashfulness, and he didn't know what to do.
"Yugi?" she had noticed the stillness of his hand and confliction on his face. Now he blushed properly. "Are you okay?"
Yami was snickering in the back of his mind, and with a huff, Yugi shut him firmly but politely out of the conversation.
"I'm really glad you're okay Tea."
She chuckled and turned her gaze back to the buckles on his wristbands. "Yeah, I'm glad too."
"No..." he shook his head. Why couldn't his blush just go away? "I mean...I'm really glad you're okay...I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to you."
She heard the intensity in his voice, and slowly pushed herself upright. Her eyes which had been hazy with sleep, now cleared.
"Yugi?" she did not seem to know what she was asking, but she understood him. She always had.
And now he understood too.
For a second his nerve almost failed him, but he was so close and backing out now would just lead to more awkwardness. And it should never be awkward between them.
It was only as he moved in, that he realised she was moving too. But that stopped being important the moment the distance was breached, and her lips were on his. There was nothing awkward or unsure. She tasted like peaches and something he could not quite identify. Distantly he felt her hand creep into his and he squeezed her fingers back. Finally breathing became important once more, and they broke away.
He could not help it – he grinned sheepishly. He had meant to say more, but it was not really needed any longer. She glanced down at their fingers.
"I know," she whispered. "I've always known."
His eyes went wide, and colour burned in his cheeks. "Really?"
She nodded. "Since the very beginning. I don't think I was sure what it was until recently."
"I know," he his shoulders slumped. "The last year was horrible. I just missed you so much. I mean, I missed everyone, but I really missed you. And then tonight-"
There was another squeeze at his hand.
"I'm not going anywhere. Promise." A frown crossed her face. "But, is this going to make things really complicated when we move to different universities? I mean, the distance..."
Now he had to chuckle.
"You're forgetting something, Tea," he said patiently, and seeing her quirk her head, he tugged his wand out of his pocket and waved it. "Magic."
She beamed, and tugged him into her for another kiss. "Oh thank God for that."
OOO
He was vaguely aware of something beeping softly in his ears, and a distant squeak of rubber shoes on linoleum. His brain felt like it was coated in cotton wool, and putting two and two together was difficult. So he just giggled mentally as he imagined robotic beeping mice squeaking to one another like the shoes on the lino. A few of them chased each other around his head, before running off in search of cheese.
The smell came next. Laundered sheets were closest, and a very strong smell of disinfectant. He wrinkled his nose at it. Something nearby was really clean, probably scrubbed to within an inch of its life. There was another, more general smell of dust on a heater – that would explain why his room was so warm...unless he'd fallen asleep on a tropical beach...or the desert again.
Keeping a grip on his thoughts was still hard, as they slipped in and out of his mind casually, so he tried to focus on something else. Now he could feel the sheets. Stiff and starched against his skin. He was curled on his side and the top of his arm was chilly where it lay exposed just above the edge of the blanket. He tried to move it under the covers, but he could only manage to raise it an inch. The back of his hand felt weird. There was a faint prickling sensation and his skin resisted against something...was that masking tape?
Then there was the pain. Now he remembered that. It was fuzzy from the feeling in his head, but there, no longer burning, but still sore. It was distant like a voice at the end of a tunnel. Had it all just been a dream? No...there were the bandages. He could feel their softness around his torso. Not to mention the unsettling feeling of sickness in his stomach that betrayed just how bad the infection had been.
Carefully, Malik opened his eyes. Everything was blurry, and blinking didn't really help matters. He was laying on his side on a bed (well there went his grand hopes of the desert or a tropical beach), and he could just make out the small cluster of tubes taped to the back of his hand, with a plastic line vanishing off the end of the mattress. Was that a cannula? And that one next to it was taped to his face...oh that was the funny feeling that he had in his nose – it was helping him breathe. So he was in hospital? Huh...maybe that was why everything was foggy – they were pumping him up with drugs. The idea made him giggle to himself again.
There also appeared to be a pile of snow on his bed.
How weird!
Slowly he reached out with his hand, trying not to disrupt the tubes too much. Strangely his arm felt like it didn't really belong to him...that or the cannula weighed about two tonnes. Dropping it was easier, as he let it fall onto the pile of snow.
But how bizarre! The snow was warm! And soft...and very hair like actually...he giggled, and this time it didn't stay in his head. It came out of his mouth in a funny croak. Was that him? He sounded like a frog! Maybe it was the tube. It did feel odd with it in his throat, but he could manage.
Gently, he patted the hair, letting the soft strands run under his fingers. The head (he assumed it was a head they were attached to), began to stir, shifting suddenly, and wafting the smell of coconut up to meet him. Eagerly Malik took a big sniff, and began to splutter as his gag reflex finally registered the tube down his throat.
"Easy Malik," Ryou's voice was soft and dazed from being startled out of his light doze. "Just relax. The nurse will have it out."
She did have it out, and Malik gratefully gulped down air unassisted. The smell invaded his senses again, and he relaxed against the mattress. Ryou smelt much better than yucky disinfectant.
"He's okay," the befuddled Egyptian thought to himself, squeezing his hand for reassurance, as the nurse moved around to check on his back. "They got his soul back. That's good. If Ryou's back, everything is okay..."
He moved too far forwards, and the skin on his back pulled tight, sending a wave of pain down his spine. He hissed softly, but the fuzzy blanket of morphine numbed it somewhat. The nurse was saying something, but he wasn't listening.
"Malik?" Ryou was blinking down at him with worried eyes like a white barn owl. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"
Actually, never mind barn owl. He was a mother hen, so much so that it made Malik's silly grin grow wider.
"Wonderful..." he giggled. One snowy white eyebrow arched into matching hair.
"Right, no more morphine for you," Ryou said wisely, but there were tears glistening in his eyes like tiny diamonds.
"Nooo..." Malik managed a tiny shake of his head. "Drugs are bad...very bad..." he yawned softly, and in the absence of Ryou's hair, patted his hand instead. "Everyone okay?"
Maybe it was the drugs making him lightheaded again, but he thought Ryou paused for a very long time before answering. The diamonds in his eyes glistened brighter.
"Yeah...everyone's fine."
"Good," Malik sighed, letting his head rest back on the pillows. "Marik's dead isn't he? I feel it. Like a space been cleared in my mind...empty space."
He giggled as he waited for Bakura to pop out and bluntly sneer that his mind was permanently empty. But there was no grouchy thief king anywhere – just Ryou squeezing his fingers.
"Just rest, Malik," he smiled...it was a sad smile of someone who had suffered a lot. Malik couldn't have that. His eyelids were drooping again, but when he was awake he would turn that frown upside down. Ryou wouldn't be sad...even if he had to turn him upside down himself...and tickle him. That would work. And it annoyed Bakura because it made Ryou squeak...
Pleased with his badly thrown together plan, Malik closed his eyes and drifted off to the sound of beeping machines and soft sobs muffled against cotton sheets.
OOO
Mai Valentine had to admit, she had been presented with far more extravagant proposals in her lifetime.
There was her awkward first kiss in middle school, which had been preceded by a box of pixi sticks and a timid note.
There were all of the men who had flipped poker chips in her direction with too-white smiles on the cruise ships (and the more unsavoury ones who had tried to deposit their offering straight down her cleavage).
There was that politician who had once lit up her name in fireworks over San Francisco.
There was that creep Jean-Claude Magnum, who had offered her a diamond the size of a chicken egg and then kidnapped her anyway when she said no.
She wasn't shallow – at least not anymore. It was never about any genuine interest in any of those men or women. It had been about the things, much like she had described to Joey as her reason for duelling in Duellist Kingdom. It was all about the expensive gifts – their attentions had always seemed contrived or false or pitiful, and not worth her genuine investment.
The hospital room was definitely not a five star hotel, and there were no huge gifts intended to wow her. And yet sitting in Joey's lap on her hospital bed, with her knee in a huge support bandage, and her entire thought process very much occupied with kissing him, she could honestly say was far more meaningful to her than any flashy declaration of love she had ever had in her life.
And more importantly, this was one she wanted, and had wanted for so very long.
"Soon as your knee is better I'm going to make up for twelve months of not telling you sooner," Joey broke away long enough to grin at her.
In spite of herself, Mai felt the warmth in her chest that she had always dismissed as only present in sappy romance novels. She let herself smirk instead. "Are you propositioning me, Joey Wheeler?"
Joey chortled. "I think we left propositioning behind a while ago Mai." He shifted slightly so that she was more comfortable. Her leg was terribly awkward to manoeuvre over the edge of the bed, but they managed. It wouldn't be for long anyway.
"I'm not sure this equals resting though," Joey pointed out. Mai rolled her eyes.
"Joey, I'm only in here because I banged my head-"
"You had a tunnel collapse on it," Joey corrected, stroking the bandage on her head gently. "And I seriously thought you'd broken your leg."
"Just twisted my knee," Mai soothed. "You heard the doctor. It's not life and death. I'll get a pair of crutches tomorrow. In the mean time, I can think of far more productive ways to pass the next few hours."
Kissing Joey was somehow better and more intense each time she tried it – not to mention it was a very credible way of shutting him up. He scooped her back into his lap. Her knee twinged in protest, but she ignored it and deepened the kiss, enjoying the soft moan she drew out of him.
"Serenity will be back soon..." he warned as they broke for a second of necessary air.
"Shh," they were quick kisses now – little bursts of something much deeper and meaningful. "You think you're the only one who's been waiting a year for this? I don't know why on Earth it took us so long..."
She knew. And he knew too. There was always something in the way – something dangerous or terrifying, or sometimes, just their own feelings. But if there was one thing that Mai knew after everything that had happened to her since Battle City, it was that fear was never a good reason not to do something. She and Joey might have come so close to losing each other time and time again, but if anything that was more of a reason to just be honest.
And it had taken a tunnel collapsing on both of them to realise that.
"I love you Mai."
He sounded so ridiculously happy that Mai could not help but laugh.
"I love you too, you dork," she said.
"Are you laughing at me?" he accused, before giving a mock huff. "You're lucky I'm in such a good mood, Valentine. I love you, and I don't care who knows it."
"Oh believe me," an amused voice drawled from the doorway. "The whole world knows it, and has known it for a long time."
Joey nearly unseated Mai from his lap in fright, as they both turned to glare at the intruders. Mai heard the groan of embarrassment from Joey's throat, and she rubbed his shoulder soothingly. Alongside Serenity, who was beaming like she had just won the lottery, Mokuba was stuffing his camera phone back into his pocket while Kisara gave an almost Kaiba-ish smirk from over the top of his head.
"Never mind the whole world," the Egyptian girl put in. "The Dominion of Beasts were actually taking bets!" She pretended to huff. "Thanks you two. If you'd got together yesterday, I would have cashed in."
"How long have you been standing there?" Joey demanded, colour appearing in his cheeks. Mai could not help but think it was kind of adorable.
"Long enough," came Ron's smug voice from the corridor, as everyone filed into the room. Ron and Hermione were juggling brown paper bags that smelt strongly of warm calories (they did not need to juggle, but Mai noticed that their second hands were a little busy holding each other). The redhead took in the way Mai was settled quite comfortably on Joey's lap, and pulled a face. "Get a room you two."
"Oh like you two can talk!" Mokuba snorted. "How long does it take two people to get straws and ketchup?"
Serenity and Kisara exchanged looks and both burst out laughing at the pure embarrassment now located on both Ron and Hermione's faces. Mai chose this moment to wriggle off Joey's lap and back onto the bed properly (though she was already making plans to return to it as soon as possible).
"Dunno what's got into everyone tonight," Mokuba rolled his eyes, handing boxes of fast food out. "We go to McDonalds for fifteen minutes and everyone's all over each other."
"Two couples isn't everyone Mokuba," Joey pointed out, parking himself more comfortably next to Mai and tackling the burger with apparent relish. Normally fast food and Mai were not the best of friends, but she was so hungry that she did not care, and she ate the offered chicken wrap with no complaints.
"Wasn't talking about you lot," Mokuba rolled his eyes. "I was talking about Yugi and Tea snogging in the middle of the corridor."
Joey gagged on his food.
"Yugi and Tea?" he spluttered, through a mouthful of half chewed cheese and minced cow. "You mean...they...? ALRIGHT!"
He punched the air with a victorious crow, and only came back down when Mai poked him in the side for flinging lettuce in her hair.
"It's about time," she finally put in when Joey's excitement had been caged. Normally she might find the thought of Yugi and Tea and their years of adoring gazes quite sickening, but now she could really only bring herself to be happy for the both of them.
"Tell me about it," Kisara nodded. "I think Mana cashed in on that one – Dark Magician Girl," she amended quickly, taking the offered box of chicken nuggets from Mokuba. She prodded one experimentally. "Are you sure this is really food?"
Mokuba shrugged. "Depends on your point of view."
"So does anyone have any idea how...?" Joey trailed off awkwardly, gesturing to Kisara. Two white eyebrows arched in amusement, and Joey floundered slightly. "Well, y'know, how you're-"
"How I've not vanished back to the Dominions of Beasts?" she took pity on him finally, and Mai had to roll her eyes. Even outside duel monsters, Blue Eyes and Red Eyes liked to try and get one up on each other.
"Yeah that," Joey finished. "I mean, you're not a ghost, right?" He took refuge in his a handful of chips while he waited for her answer.
Kisara chuckled. "No more than the Pharaoh and the Thief," she pointed out. "I didn't need a school of magic to learn how to flesh my soul out – I just needed time, and for Seto to listen to me." She gave a wry grin. "And I've had nothing but time for the past five thousand years."
She finally bit cautiously into a chicken nugget, thought about it for a moment, and decided that yes, it was food.
"But how does that-" Hermione began, but Kisara swallowed and shook her head before she could finish.
"In Egypt, miracles were hard to come by, and so I learned never to question them when they did," she explained. "Whether by magic or act of the Gods, I will not question my luck now." She took another nugget and ate it without question. Hermione pouted at the lack of a clear cut answer.
"So how are the others?" Joey asked. "I mean – aside from everyone kissing and stuff."
"Well Malik is awake...sort of," Ron explained through a mouthful of unchewed burger. Mai wrinkled her nose, but thankfully Ron had the courtesy to swallow before continuing. "He keeps dropping off in the middle of conversation, and then waking up again. I think it's that stuff they're putting in him for the pain...murfing?"
"Morphine," Hermione and Serenity corrected.
"Yeah, that," Ron waved aside. "Anyway, it's making him completely bonkers."
"He's not bonkers, Ron," Hermione objected, as Joey snorted burger and bread up his nose. "You'd be a little delirious too if you'd gone two days with no food or drink and someone stuck painkillers into your system-"
"A little delirious?" Mokuba snorted. "Big brother was filming him on his phone!"
"Bonkers," Ron summarised for Joey and Mai's sake. "He keeps smiling at everything when he's not nodding off. The monitor. His sheets. Ryou...he's smiling a lot at Ryou actually, even when he's not saying anything. It's really weird."
Mai fought the urge to laugh, as everyone in the room exchanged significant and amused looks. Even Joey seemed to cotton on, breaking into a sly grin after only a second of confusion. Ron paused, his burger half way on its fateful journey to his mouth.
"What?" he asked. Hermione patted him on the shoulder.
"We'll leave you to your deductions, Ron," she said, helping herself to chips. "Anyway, once we're done eating I think the plan is to let everyone rest and go get some sleep. It's been a long day."
"No kidding," Joey muttered. "You think we'll finally have some holiday with no one trying to kill us?"
"Y'know, we might just," Serenity agreed, rolling up the paper that had contained her dinner and stuffing it into the empty bag.
"Can we meet you guys tomorrow?" Mokuba asked eagerly. "Kisara needs to see the world after being stuck as a dragon for so long!"
Starting at the sound of her name, Kisara snapped out of the steady gaze that she had been projecting at the wall for the past minute. She beamed widely. "Seto's back," she announced, before hurrying out of the room, chicken nuggets still in hand.
"So...that's Kaiba's Blue Eyes," Joey pointed at the door.
"That's Big Brother's Blue Eyes," Mokuba confirmed, licking ketchup off his fingers. "Except she's a woman...a woman and Blue Eyes."
"Man," Joey snorted with laughter. "For someone who doesn't believe in magic, Kaiba was wishing really hard!"
OOO
"What part of 'no' do you not understand in this country?!"
Draco Malfoy paused outside the open crack in the door, his hand half stretched into a knock. He had no doubts that he had the right room, but for someone who had been a prisoner for the past week, Ali was managing to engage in a furious argument with whoever was sharing her resting space. Clearly that person was not her father, Draco realised, for the middle aged man was slumped in the plastic chair outside his daughter's room, his head lolled back in sleep.
"I have told you a million times, no! I don't need anymore!" the girl was protesting, as Draco timidly pushed the door open and peered in. He groaned silently to himself as he recognised the lime green robes of the two healers from earlier, standing before her with their wands out and their faces a picture of confusion. Harry may have been shadowing the aurors, but the magical doctors seemed to have found a moment to slip away. Ali clearly did not appreciate the hospital robe, and had wrapped herself in a thick yellow dressing gown, and covered her hair with an aqua headscarf, which combined with her pink cheeks to make her look bright and lively compared to the dullness of the rest of the room.
"My dear," the first one was saying, in a loud and slow voice, as though speaking to a deaf child. "You have been in captivity for a week. You need pain relief -"
"I know I've been in captivity for a week!" Ali snapped. "I was there! And I have told you that I have already administered myself a shot of the morpheus relevium spell less than six hours ago. In addition, I have this drip feeding morphine into my veins right this moment. And if you try and give me any more relief – potion or spell – I will overdose, and then you will have a dead patient on your hands! So for the last time, no, I do not want your pain relief, and I do not want to be transferred to St Mungos! I want to stay here with my friends."
Impressed, Draco silently applauded her in his head. Now he could see why she was such a good duellist. When provoked, she could be pretty fierce.
"There is no reasonable evidence," the healer tried again, while the other eyed the drip of morphine suspiciously as though unsure it could really be working. "That muggle pain relief is any more effective-"
"There is plenty of evidence!" Ali bit through her teeth. "In fact if you bothered to brush up on the latest magical medical theories you would know that they're now pretty sure that muggle pain relief is actually more effective in the long run because it bypasses the patient's natural magical defences and interacts directly with the body chemistry!"
"Maybe you should leave healing to the experts, little girl," the second healer finally butt in.
"Well maybe you should leave me to have some rest and fluids – believe me, I can have them just as easily here as I can at a magical hospital. It might come as a shock to you, but muggles are just as capable of healing as wizards. Now you can leave by yourselves, or I will call the ward sister and she can fight with you instead." She looked them both up and down. "And given the size of her, I don't like your odds."
Both of the healers exchanged a glance, and Draco realised that they were seriously considering stunning her and taking her to the wizard hospital unconscious. Dropping the flowers to his side, he decided that maybe it was time for him to step in.
"You heard the lady," he stated firmly, slipping his wand out of his pocket, not enough to be threatening, but just enough to show that he meant business. "The exit is that way."
Both of them rounded on him, and the one on the left took a step back in surprise. "Draco Malfoy!"
"Yes, that's me," Draco rolled his eyes – it seemed for once that his father's regular donations to St Mungos were about to do him some good. "And I'm here to visit the patient, and would appreciate some privacy. She'll be perfectly fine here – as will the other patients from tonight," he added, hoping that they would understand the threat. "So you can take yourselves back to St Mungos where I am sure your talents are more urgently required."
It was so difficult to be polite sometimes, he thought, but it seemed to work, as both healers nervously scooted past him and practically bolted down the corridor. Ali slumped against her pillow, all her fight finally expired. Now the colour of her clothes only served to make her look washed out.
"Thank you so much," she was earnestly. "I thought I was actually going to have to call the sister."
"You could have just hexed them," Draco pointed out, inching his way nervously to the bed. Ali shrugged.
"I'm not usually a violent person," she said, blushing. "In spite of my temper. Besides, it would have been far funnier to watch them fight with the sister. I wasn't joking just now – she's huge!"
Draco snorted, and placed the flowers on top of the dresser. "Well violent or not, it's still nice to meet you Ali. I'm Draco Malfoy." He offered her his hand to shake, and she took it gently.
"Aliya Demir, and you didn't have to bring me flowers."
Now it was Draco's turn to blush. "I didn't really. They're from Malik. He told me to bring you something nice."
"How is he?" Ali asked, her face scrunching up into a frown. Draco sighed heavily.
"Not going to lie – it doesn't look pretty. But the doctors say that they've got a grip on the infection so he's not in life threatening danger anymore. He's pretty doped up on painkillers though – in between asking me to take everyone get-well presents, he kept asking me who had painted his walls octarine." He pulled a face. "I don't even know what octarine is…"
Ali giggled. "It's from a muggle book – supposedly it's the colour of magic."
"Huh..." Draco pondered, sitting down in the empty chair. "I should read more muggle literature...anyway, enough about Malik. How are you feeling?"
Ali smiled. "Painkillers are a beautiful thing. Most of the pain from the curses is numb for now and will heal with sleep, and I can probably heal my ribs tomorrow. I'm mostly just tired, dehydrated and hungry." She waved her hand, where the drip was connected. Draco felt his stomach churn – it was the first time he'd seen proper muggle medical care. He had to admit, it was logical and seemed effective, but he didn't like the idea of having a needle shoved in the back of his hand.
"We'll expect the healers back tomorrow then," he groaned. Ali snorted.
"Not likely – I'm studying to be a healer. I'll mend my own ribs, thank you very much!"
She sounded so determined that Draco knew he would not dare argue with her. He toyed absently with a flower petal, as he realised he did not have a clue what to say – actually, he had no idea how much she knew about the whole situation.
"A fair amount." He winced – he must have asked that aloud. She only smiled in amusement. "Yugi gave my father the official version about the tournament and Death Eaters infiltrating and all that stuff. He doesn't remember much of this week. He was under the Imperius curse for most of it. Tea told me the rest about the magic that Malik, Yugi and Ryou all have – mind you, I'd guessed there was something different back in the tunnels when the monster started popping up, and they were all talking about Shadow Games."
Draco chuckled. "Yeah that was a bit of a giveaway. Maybe we can all sit down and have a Q and A session after everyone is better. I certainly need to catch up on a few things. I only got in on this adventure earlier today."
Ali tilted her head curiously, and Draco felt himself squirm under her gaze.
"I'm not really that good friends with them," he admitted after a while. "I mean...I think I'm friends with Malik, and Yugi kinda likes everyone..."
"But from what Tea told me," Ali put in. "You managed to work very well with Harry and Ron as a team in your fight – well enough to win."
"Yeah but we're not friends," Draco explained. "I just wanted to help and they let me tag along. They don't really trust me." She was still levelling him with that look, and Draco decided just to come out with it – no sense in hiding. "My father and mother were Death Eaters."
There was a long silence, and Draco waited for the command telling him to get out. To his surprise it never came.
"So they think you're one too," she surmised.
"I'm not!" he protested hotly, but the sight of the wires around her reminded him that he was in a hospital, and he lowered his voice shamefully.
"I never said you were," Ali pointed out. "I guessed that they thought you were – sometimes people aren't that hard to figure out."
"Well...I never gave them a reason to think otherwise," Draco remarked bitterly. "I was a jerk to them. I was a jerk to everyone actually."
"I don't think you're a jerk," she put in.
"Thanks," he smiled thinly. "It's just...so black and white to some people. And that's what I hate. You're a jerk and the son of Death Eaters, so you must be one too." He shook his head. "They don't stop to think that the world doesn't work like that."
"I know," Ali sighed, and now it was Draco's turn to wear the quizzical look. "I do know," she answered, seeing the gaze. "I'm Muslim, Draco. I go to America for tournaments and put up with everyone thinking I'm carrying explosives in my shoes. I know what it's like to have people make unfair assumptions about you."
Draco winced. "Sorry."
"Don't be," Ali shrugged. "I'm not. I know I'm no terrorist – same way you know you're no Death Eater." She smiled at him. "My father has a saying – when you know yourself, the rest of the world will know you too. I know who I am. I am Aliya Demir. I am a witch, a duellist and a lover of coffee. Who are you Draco?"
It was like gazing at himself into a mirror behind his closed eyelids, only instead of the fuzzy blackness that Draco could usually see, he found himself becoming clearer around the edges. Maybe she was right, and this was how it all began – letting the world know who he was.
"I'm Draco Malfoy. I'm a wizard. I play Quidditch...and I'm an appalling map maker," he admitted with a grin, pulling one of the scraps of paper out of his pocket. Ali laughed.
"Yeah, that's not going to win any prizes, I don't think," she agreed.
A knock at the door broke them both out of their mirth.
"Come in," Ali called, and the door all but burst open. For a moment Draco tensed, fearing the return of the pushy healers. But the lime green and purple clothes belonged to the whirlwind that was Ali's best friend.
"Oh sussie I'm so sorry," Hana parked herself on the edge of the bed and cuddled the younger girl tight, mumbling endearments and curses against her own stupidity in her second language. "I should have realised-"
Ali gave a snort from somewhere in Hana's cleavage. "No Hanny you shouldn't have. It was a flawless impersonation, and you and my father were both brainwashed."
"I still should have noticed," Hana muttered. "I even thought that I was forgetting things this week. I can't remember half of the tournament. I should have realised that there was something magical going on..."
"Thanks for waiting Hana," came a pouty voice, as Koji struggled in through the door trailing a drip stand.
"Sorry," Hana tried to redeem herself by helping Koji into a chair. Draco winced – he had not seen the extent of Koji's injuries from the duel, but they were obviously severe from the imposing neck brace keeping his head in check. His cheeks coloured brilliantly against the plastic.
"Hi Ali. I don't know if you really know me now – they said that wasn't really you at the tournament all week-"
"Koji, isn't it?" Ali guessed. "I've read about your duelling." She gave him a hand to shake, which seemed to relax him slightly.
"Well Joey told me you were in here," Koji explained. "Along with everything else." He stopped to grin wildly. "Magic! That's just cool!"
"So how did you know about magic?" Draco asked curiously. To his knowledge, Hana had not been around for any of the events that had transpired that day.
"Oh Ali told me that she's a witch ages ago," Hana dismissed. "She's my sussie. We have no secrets." She stroked Ali's forehead, and the younger girl relaxed.
"I see I have a lot to catch up on," she admitted, squeezing Hana's hand. "You didn't have to come and see me. It's five in the morning."
"And I was supposed to go back to sleep after getting your father's text?" Hana gave her a look. "I don't think so. I text Leon and Riley, but they've probably slept through it. I'm sure they'll be in though – they're your friends now too."
"So...that Voldemort guy," Draco winced at Koji's casual use of the name. "He's dead, right? And the creepy guy with the spiky hair?"
"You mean Marik?" Draco guessed. "Yeah, they're both dead."
"Who is Marik?" Ali asked curiously. "Mai was talking about him in the tunnels, but she never explained..."
"I'm not surprised," Draco admitted. "It's Malik's story to tell. Better wait until he's more coherent."
"Do you have magic too?" Koji asked, leaning forward in his seat. Ali giggled.
"This is Draco," she introduced. "He's a friend of Yugi and Malik's. And he is a wizard."
"Awesome!" Koji beamed in excitement. "So how do you do it?"
Draco was momentarily flummoxed. He rarely had contact with muggles, and explaining how he had magic was like explaining how you breathed – you just assumed that everybody knew it. Fortunately, Ali came to his rescue again.
"We have wands," she explained, reaching for her own on the table. Draco obligingly took his own out too. "And we have spells. The wands are like a key for our magic to come out."
She flicked her wand, and the television remote glided gracefully through the air and landed on her bed beside her hand. Koji's eyes were wide.
"That is so cool!" he declared. "I want one!"
"Doesn't work like that," Hana said sadly. "I said the same thing when sussie showed me. But she said you usually have signs before you're eleven."
Koji seemed unperturbed by this. "I'm only ten. Still plenty of time!"
"If you remember that long," Draco muttered darkly. He was not as quiet as he had hoped, and he found himself on the end of three accusing gazes. "Sorry it's just...the aurors earlier were talking about wiping everyone's memories – well, everyone who doesn't have magic at least. I think they're serious about it too."
Ali looked positively murderous, and Koji gasped.
"Wipe our memories?!" he exclaimed. "But I'll forget the tournament!"
"I'll forget Ali if I forget magic!" Hana hugged the younger girl tight. "I can't forget her! She's my best friend! They can't wipe our memories! That's got to be assault!"
Draco shrugged. "I'm sorry. They say it's for the security of the magical world, but to be honest, I think they just want as many people as possible to forget the massive cock up they made tonight, allowing Death Eaters to run around underneath the Ministry."
"We won't tell anyone!" Koji protested, his voice small and terrified. "Who'd believe us if we did? I'll forget all the friends I've made this summer!"
"They're not wiping my memory!" Hana declared, and Draco felt himself shrink under her fury. "No way."
"Hanny," Ali said gently. "I don't want them to either. But they're determined. They could catch you on the street or back at the hotel and do it there, and nothing any of us do will be able to stop them or save your memories."
The words resounded through Draco's head, before a solution clicked into place. It was mad, but it just might work...
A part of him stalled – was this the right thing to do? Defy the Ministry and let muggles remain with knowledge of the wizarding world? But as he saw the tears in Koji's eyes, and the way Hana clung to Ali, he knew he would hate himself if he bailed now.
This is how friendship begins, he thought to himself. Not by fear, or envy, or a good reputation – but by acts of kindness.
"Hold that thought," he said, reaching for his rucksack and digging around until his fingers felt the smooth cold stone basin. "There might be a way after all..."
OOO
"And when I tell you I want absolute privacy, that includes letting freaks in robes in!"
Some might have considered it impressive or mad that Seto Kaiba could still be furious about something three hours after it had happened. But he was Seto Kaiba and he got what he wanted – whether that was a steak of Kobe beef, a new duel dome, or top level security in the hospital where Yugi and his little gang were recovering from their misadventure.
Honestly, what was the point of charitable donations to overseas hospitals if they could not do you little favours like this?
"No, I don't want your excuses! I want you to step up all security around this wing! And so help me if I find any more -"
He was cut off as his mobile was abruptly and sharply yanked from his fingers. He whirled and found the reprimand sticking in his throat as Kisara smacked the speaker against her own cheek and began to growl.
"Do as he says," she snarled down the line, in her most commanding voice. "Or no security system in the world will be effective enough to hide you from me!"
And she hung up.
No one, in eighteen years, had ripped a phone from Kaiba's hands, let alone dared to finish his call for him. But as he looked at the fury burning in Kisara's eyes, Kaiba wondered if he was really brave enough to challenge her on this. He was unused to being on the backfoot, but Kisara was one of the few people who he could not get the full measure of, and it threw him off.
Seto Kaiba does not retreat from any battle, he reminded himself, and he folded his arms and glared at her. "And when did I give you permission to take my phone calls?" he demanded.
She mimicked his stance, not the least bit intimidated by him. "I'd say, when you gave me the task of protecting you...whether that's from duelling opponents, people with magic, or idiots on the telephone."
She handed the phone politely back to him.
"Besides," she put in. "It's six in the morning, and people are trying to sleep in that corridor."
Kaiba scoffed. After all, they were sleeping in the corridor at his pleasure (though not his expense – thank God for the UK's free and effective public healthcare service). Kisara did not move, her gaze completely unfathomable. It puzzled Kaiba, and he frowned at her. He smelt processed food (Mokuba he groaned to himself) and the sweet smell of honey that he had come to associate with her in his dreams. Her expression revealed nothing, but Kaiba could see the faint bumps of gooseflesh on her arms – in just her thin silk dress, she was growing cold under the hospital air conditioning.
Carefully, she studied him too, her face still not giving an inch.
"What?" he said, finally deciding to just ask. To his relief, Kisara's lips twitched into a smile.
"So, they're still not your friends, then?" she asked, with a pinch of dryness, and Kaiba found himself shuffling uncomfortably just a tiny bit. So that was what this was all about.
"They're not my friends, Kisara," he said firmly. She rolled her eyes.
"Riiight..." she drawled. "Seto...you're a great man. Is it really so hard to admit that you might be a good one too? You didn't help save everyone tonight because you believe in the same things Yugi and the Pharaoh do. You saved them because it was the right thing to do. Because the world as you know it would have ended tonight if you hadn't gone with them to help. And because they might have died if things had gone differently, and you did not want to take that risk."
Now it was Kaiba's turn to feel impatient. He was sick of not knowing what to say to her, and above all, he was tired of being lectured to. Anger bubbling up in his chest, he did something he never allowed himself to do recklessly. He told the truth.
"I didn't help them because of some saccharine concept of friendship," he snapped. "I helped them, because Marik and Voldemort took something precious from me, and I wanted it back. We had a common enemy, which made us allies-"
The word was out before he could pull it back, and the fury at himself seemed to evaporate as he registered the smugness on her face.
"Allies?" she questioned, with a teasing lilt.
Growling, Kaiba backpedalled. "I don't have friends, Kisara." He repeated with a sense of finality.
"Just allies," she stated, before amending. "And Mokuba."
"And you."
Her guard dropped enough for her to stare at him incredulously. She seemed to shrink in on herself slightly, and she turned her back on him. Then she found her voice, and tinged it with a hint of bitterness. "I thought I was just an Ancient Egyptian fairy tale who belonged in the past?"
He remembered her words to her just the night before, and winced as he replayed them to himself. Had he really said that? The crueller, cynical side of his mind told him that she had deserved it, and for once, he found himself wholly sickened by it.
For the first time in a long time, Seto Kaiba realised that he had been a fool.
And he definitely couldn't have that.
He did not really care that they were in a public hospital corridor. Instead he approached her from behind and took her shoulders gently, turning her around to face him. Her brows were furrowed in a challenge, but he knew that there was a longing and softness just behind that fierceness, and after five thousand years, it was close to breaking.
And in spite of her anger, she was still magnificent.
"Clearly," he muttered, feeling more awkward than he ever had in his life. So much was riding on his words now – far more than any board meeting or takeover he had ever been a part of. "You are more than just a fairy tale...or a dream."
Her scowl lessened slightly.
"Then what am I?" she breathed.
He did not even have to consider his answer.
"You are my Blue Eyes White Dragon."
"And?" One white eyebrow arched, expectantly. Sighing, Kaiba tossed the rest of his pride out of the window, and carried on.
"You're not a fairy tale. You're real. I don't know how –" she huffed in exasperation and he rolled his eyes. "Okay fine...I know how. I just don't know what it means." It all came flooding out now, like a great tide rushing in. "Kisara, I don't know how you're here, or how long for. Are you just going to vanish one day, as quickly as you appeared in this world? I don't like not having answers."
Even as he said it, he felt the iron control slipping out of his grasp. There was the crux of the issue – all of his issues ever since Yugi had walked into his life. He saw magic happening all around him, and yet remained painfully ill equipped to handle it or deal with it himself. With magic, it wasn't about winning – it was about playing the game. He didn't like playing the game. He always played to win. But magic ran on its own set of rules – rules that he did not understand, and had no influence over.
What made it even more insulting, was that he knew it to be such a basic human flaw. He hated anything that he did not understand, and wasn't that what every ignorant person on the planet did? However much he tried to feel superior – to feel in control – he wasn't, in the most basic way possible.
Soft hands were lifting his from her shoulders and squeezing them between them.
"My power lies with you," Kisara said, but there was a robotic quality to her voice now. "I'm tied to you and the White Dragon cards. I'm here for as long as you want me here."
He didn't like that voice. Blue Eyes should never be broken down this far, he thought to himself. And it was all his fault, which meant it was his job to put it right.
"I want you to stay," he admitted quietly. "But only if you want to as well. Don't stay because you feel obligated. You've spent millennia under obligation."
It kind of burned to admit, even in passing, that this ancient Egyptian stuff might not be a load of rubbish after all. But for her, and the way her lips were starting to tug up into a smile, he thought he might be able to do it again...for her.
"You're right," she nodded. "Five thousand years is a long time...I think I'm owed a reward." She let herself smile properly now. "I'll stay."
It was only a supreme amount of will power that stopped Kaiba from cheering or vocalising his joy. Instead, he just let himself smile. It was okay...there was no one else around but them after all. She gave herself a second to enjoy it, before breaking the gaze with a practical voice.
"Now I'm exhausted. And so are you. So we are going back to your hotel room to sleep for a few hours. Then we can tie up the last loose ends from tonight."
Both of Kaiba's eyebrows rose just the tiniest of a fraction. "I don't take orders from you, Kisara. That's not how this relationship works."
She beamed at him before he could properly register what he had said. Had he just said relationship? Was that a bit presumptuous? He still wasn't really sure what this was that they had together. That would teach him to open his mouth without thinking.
Smiling like a woman with a secret, Kisara tugged him down for a kiss – their first proper one outside of dreams – pressing her whole body flush with his. Kaiba hesitated for just a second, checking for people or approaching footsteps, before tugging her up onto her tiptoes so that he did not have to stoop. She still tasted like honey and sweetness, and he found that, combined with the power and the iron will he knew her to possess, terribly attractive. She gave a satisfied hum in the back of her throat as they broke apart.
She licked her lips and smirked at him.
"Oh yes it is," she corrected. And Seto Kaiba could not help but think to himself that on this occasion, he had definitely got what he had wanted.
A/N: ALL OF THE SNOGGING!
Bakura: Mei, did you just make a Lord of the Rings reference, a Sherlock reference, a Discworld reference and a Doctor Who reference in one chapter?
Mei: It's the chapter before the ending! Let me be a fangirl!
Sussie is Afrikaans for little sister. Hana uses it in this context as a term of endearment for Ali.
Don't forget to review everyone! In the mean time, I'm off to Torquay to shimmy with a load of other belly dancers. See you all in chapter 26!